


The Lost Esper

by sombreromoustache



Category: Final Fantasy VI, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Essentially She Ra characters replacing FF6 characters but some stay the same, Gen, Imperialism, Memory Loss, Novelization, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Steampunk
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-18
Updated: 2020-10-15
Packaged: 2020-12-22 14:16:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 17,470
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21078164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sombreromoustache/pseuds/sombreromoustache
Summary: Long ago, the War of the Magi reduced the world to a scorched wasteland, and Magic simply ceased to exist. One thousand years have passed... Iron, gunpowder, and steam engines have been rediscovered and high technology reigns. But there are those who would enslave the world by reviving the dreadful destructive power known as “Magic.” Can it be that those in power are on the verge of repeating a senseless and deadly mistake?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> If you're clicking to see what the hub bub is and are about to click off cuz you never played Final Fantasy VI, don't worry. You don't have to play it.  
Pls give me views. AND COMMENTS ****

Long ago, the War of the Magi reduced the world to a scorched wasteland, and Magic simply ceased to exist. One thousand years have passed... Iron, gunpowder, and steam engines have been rediscovered and high technology reigns. But there are those who would enslave the world by reviving the dreadful destructive power known as “Magic.” Can it be that those in power are on the verge of repeating a senseless and deadly mistake?

* * *

The snowstorm brought the empire. In the mountains ly a mining town the Empire neglected to conquer. Until that evening. A soldier stood over the cliff, looking over the town with a pair of binoculars, “There’s the town.”  
Atop a massive, mechanical monstrosity, the soldier’s partner Wedge looked down at the town, “Hard to believe an Esper’s been found after all this time.”  
Biggs walked over to his own Magitek Armour and hopped aboard, “Think it’s still alive?”  
As his partner started up the machine, Wedge only shrugged, “Probably. Judging from the urgency of our orders.”  
Biggs looked over to their companion, “And this girl, this...,” he struggled to find a word. She didn’t even look his way, “Sorceress. Why’s she here? Heard she fried fifty of our best Magitek in under three minutes!”  
Wedge didn’t share his concern. He pointed to the girl’s head, “Not to worry. The Slave Crown on her head robs her of all conscious thought. She’ll follow orders.”  
Biggs gave her one last look, but shook his head, “We’ll approach from the east. Move out!”  
The girl followed, expressionless.  
The Magitek Armour clanked with each step across the snow. The heat of the Magitek’s engines melted any frost that fell on its metal. Still, Biggs and Wedge shivered in the cold. They would briefly stop to warm themselves against their machine’s metal. All except the girl. Snow fell into her hair, and she didn’t move a finger. Only when the soldiers holding her leash did she move.  
Their walk to Narshe didn’t last long, and they invaded swiftly. Biggs and Wedge looked through the gates of the town.  
“Yeesh, seems like a ghost town, huh?” Biggs asked. They looked back to the girl, still waiting behind. Awaiting orders.  
“Let’s put her on point. No sense in taking any risks. Forward!” Wedge ordered.  
The girl gripped the controls to her Magitek Armor and moved ahead. Biggs and Wedge for once followed. While the girl moved ahead, the two soldiers looked around every corner, watching an attack.  
From an alley, a man and his dog alerted the town, “Die Imperial scum!” and his dog ran ahead to attack the party. Biggs and Wedge prepared to attack, but the girl, without even looking, raised her right hand and a burst of fire erupted from her.  
She moved her Magitek forward when the dog let out its last cry. Biggs and Wedge followed her under a house built over the road. In the center of the town, the group was ambushed by more of Narshe’s men and their dogs, “Narshe’s freedom depends on us!”  
They attacked, but they stood no chance. Biggs and Wedge’s Magitek fired beams of heat and bolts that dropped them to their knees. The girl didn’t have the opportunity to slaughter more men this time.  
“That seems to be the last of them,” Wedge said.  
A Narsheman groaned and was about to reach for his sickle, but Biggs stomped on his plans. They moved ahead, past a boiler and one of the town’s shops. It was a narrow alleyway to the mines, and the soldiers knew they were going to be ambushed.  
“We’ve got ‘em trapped now!” and they moved to attack. Though they were surrounded, the outcome was the same. The girl unleashed poison upon their attackers, and the Narsheman and his wolf coughed up the toxic fumes and their own blood before falling over. Once again they moved. By that point, Biggs and Wedge were no longer concerned about attacking Narshemen. They stayed behind the girl, allowing her to slaughter all who stood in their path.  
They moved ahead, all seeming quiet save for the blowing wind. The landscape became rockier and the houses were replaced with industrial structures. Biggs and Wedge spotted the entrance to the mines as they moved over wooden platforms.  
“We must defend the mines!” now the soldiers were surprised. A couple of Narshemen rode in on mammoths. They charged into the Magitek Armors, knocking the girl and her Magitek behind her captors. Biggs and Wedge hit the mammoths with their own Fire beams, killing them in a single hit. The girl’s Magitek recovered, and she cast a sound emitter from her armor. At first it didn’t seem like the attack did anything, but the Narshemen attacking each other with their backs turned to them cued Biggs and Wedge realizing the girl confused them. They weren’t confused for long.  
“Good work,” Wedge spoke to the girl. No response.  
“Save that for your mutt,” Biggs chastised his partner, and the two followed the girl onward.  
After walking underneath a bridge, they approached a mine entrance. The soldiers looked down into the earth.  
“According to our sources,” Wedge reached for the orders given to them, “The frozen esper was found in one of these new mineshafts,” he looked ahead once more, “No better place to start than here.”  
The roof was low, and the earth would shake with each step their Magitek armor took. Yet still, the party moved forward. They followed mine tracks to go deeper into the mine, but occasionally they stopped when confronted by groups of misshapen rats. Biggs wanted to ignore them, but the rats were persistent, and scratched at the armor too greatly to ignore.  
They ran out of mine track and found an opening in the mines where staffolding had been built to block any movement. For once, Biggs and Wedge moved ahead of the girl, “I’ll handle this, stand back!” Biggs declared. The girl followed Wedge as Biggs tackled the wooden structure blocking their way, knocking it all down. Without a word, they allowed the girl to lead them forward, only for a single Narshman to stand in their way.  
“We won’t handle the Esper!” he declared, pulling a lever in the wall, where a gate opened up. From behind the gate, a massive snail-like creature that rivaled the size of their Magitek armor, “Get ‘em, Welk!”  
The snail moved forward to attack, and Wedge and the girl were ready to blast it with whatever they had.  
“Hold it! Remember our briefing?!” Biggs stopped them before they could cast any damage to their opponent.  
“What about it?!” Wedge demanded.  
“Remember the monster they warned us about?! The one that absorbs lightning?”  
Wedge’s eyes widened, “And stores it in its shell!”  
“Right, so whatever you do, don’t attack the shell!” Biggs looked over to the girl, “Got it!”  
She didn’t respond, only firing a missile at the head of Welk. Biggs and Wedge shook their heads and fired beams of heat at the snail, but before long, the snail retreated inside of its shell, and remembering her captor’s words, the girl stopped from attacking. She sat back in her seat and waited for the monster to show its face once again.  
The snail didn’t survive for much longer. After firing at its head another round, the snail fell to the mine floor and collapsed, its shell breaking in on itself. The girl moved forward, Biggs and Wedge not bothering to honor their fallen opponent, continued on.  
In this part of the mines, very little machinery was around and no minetrack had been laid, nor did there seem to be any attempt at building any. The light was dim, and the soldiers could barely see in front of the girl. But at the end of the mine, what seemed to be like a shrine, lay their quarry.  
“Is that, the Frozen Esper?” Biggs asked in awe.  
“Yeah, seems more like an esper than anything else,” Wedge stepped forward, “Alright, let’s start dragging this thing to Vector.”  
Through a command of levers and buttons, the Magitek Armors latched their claws into the ice, save for the girl’s.  
“Girl! Are you deaf! We have to take this back to the capitol!” Biggs reprimanded her, but she ignored him. She left her Magitek and approached the Frozen Esper.  
“What are you doing?! Huh?! Hey, where’s that light coming from?! Great googly moogly!” Wedge didn’t intend these to be his final words, but the Frozen Esper made them so.  
“Wedge? Where are you? What’s going on?” the light came to consume Biggs as well, “Great googly moogly!” Biggs and Wedge didn’t have good choices in last words.  
The girl, alone with the esper, stared into the block of ice. The esper was unlike any creature, yet the girl felt a connection with it. Bolts of light and fiery explosions were all she could see before she blacked out.  
The next thing she knew, she was in a bed, “You’re finally awake.”  
She looked over to her side and saw a man standing over her, “Where. Where am I?”  
“Still in Narshe. You’re safe now. Can you tell me your name?”  
She pulled the sheets off of her and sat her feet on the floor, “I think, my name is Adora.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> inb4 Todd Howard comments. I hope the expanded characterization for Biggs and Wedge was interesting. I've been thinking of a FF6 AU for She Ra ever since season 1 dropped so I hope y'all enjoy this. This story will follow the games plot, only there will be different characterizations.  
I will also be using some of the game mechanics from the Brave New World rom hack, since some of those make sense to me.


	2. Chapter 2

Adora felt queasy and her head pounded, “I feel.”  
“Whoa now! I only just took your crown off!” the man came to her and put an arm on her shoulder.  
Adora clasped her forehead, “It.... hurts,” she moaned. Her vision blurred and she fell to her knees.  
The man walked from her bed to a shelf where he drew a strange device from one of its drawers, “Easy. You had a slave crown on your head. Those men had complete control over you,” he explained, carefully holding the device.  
“I can’t remember any men,” she stood up and looked down at her feet, “I can’t remember a thing.”  
The old man looked to her, trying to smile for her, “Don’t worry, it’ll all come back to you. In time, that is.”  
Adora and the old man heard a loud bark from outside, followed by a fierce banging on the door, “Open up! We’re here for the girl on the Magitek!” the old man ran out of the bedroom and more banging followed, “Open up! We want the girl! She’s an officer for the empire!”  
Adora looked out the bedroom door, “Empire? Magitek?”  
“You have to go! God knows what they’ll do to you!” he ran fast for a man his age, as he swiftly dashed around Adora to the bedroom door, “Over here!” and he walked over to his home’s back door, “There’s a way out of town through the mines! I’ll keep them occupied for now.”  
Adora stared at him. She didn’t know what to think. Why was he trying to save her life? Why were people after her? She didn’t understand. She left without a word and walked through the cold. The snow soaked into her shoes as she walked behind the man’s home. Ahead of her was a bridge and the other end of the rocky cliffside. From in the house, she could hear the door banging more and more. She walked across the bridge, the town of Narshe below sending waves of unease through her spine. But she had a goal. And for now that was the only thing in her life.  
She was halfway across the bridge when a gust of wind blew into her and the Narshemen finally noticed her, “There she is! Up on the rooftops!”  
Adora ran across the bridge to the other end of the cliff. She looked over to an entrance in the mines and ran inside. There was a different kind of cold in these caves, but no less uncomfortable. Adora crept through the caves, wondering where she was going. She wondered why she had to. Why people were after her, or why that man helped her.  
“Who am I? Why am I, here?”  
Her voice bounced off the walls of the cave, louder than she thought it was, but she continued moving forward, following the light of torches.  
“THERE SHE IS!” without warning, Adora was surrounded by Narshemen, coming from where she came from and from an entrance to the mines she could not see.  
She was backed into a corner. She didn’t know what to do. She saw the knives in their hands and the look in their eyes. What did it mean? All she knew, is that it wasn’t good for her.  
Luck would find her, in a way. The ground underneath Adora’s feet would crumble, and she would fall to the lowest pits in the Narshe Mines. She was fine, but hurt.  
She tried to take a step forward, but all that did was bring her to her knees. Everything was dizzy, and her vision blurred. She fell to her face on the cave floor.

* * *

She lie on a surgeon’s table, in a dark room. She wasn’t aware of herself or her surroundings, but she knew she wasn’t alone. Behind her was him.  
“Oh my sweet, sweet, little magic girl!” he held a device in his hands, a device in the shape of a crown, “When I put this slave crown around your pretty little head, I’ll practically own you! Uwee hah hah hah!”  
He came around and put the slave crown over her head, its jewel resting just above her eyes. Everything was red for a moment, and Adora wasn’t there anymore. Her eyes were hollow and she nodded to him.  
“Uwee hah hah haha!” his hand caressed her face, and his black-painted fingernails glided over her cheeks, “Now, let’s have some fun!”  
Soldiers begged for their lives. But they fell on deaf ears. No matter how horrific her commands were, she would follow her masters orders. And she incinerated the poor man. In a Magitek Armour, none stood a chance.  
The land was caught with fire, an inferno surrounded them, and the dead were at their feet. And all Kefka Palazzo could do was laugh, “Uwee hah hah hah! Good! Burn everything!” he felt the same joy as a child felt with a new toy.

* * *

She stood by her Magitek Armour far and away from the thousands gathered to witness her master’s words, “We stand on the brink of a major breakthrough! In the days to come, we’ll witness a total revival of Magic!” Gestahl declared to his empire, “It is our destiny, and our alone, to take this mystic force and claim what is rightfully ours!”  
Thousands cheered for him, raising their arms to show they would follow his leadership across the world. His generals, one a statuesque woman and the other a shorter and scrappier-looking fighter, and Kefka stood behind and clapped for their master, while Adora stood back and watched emotionlessly.  
“With our new-found power, nothing can stand in our way!” a power that had slaughtered his own men, he would use to scar the earth and conquer. That was Gestahl’s plan.  
“Hurrah! Long live Emperor Gestahl!” the masses cheered.

* * *

The Narshemen had come through his house and searched high and low for the woman that slaughtered their men. He didn’t claim to know of any woman, but before they could see through his lies, they had spotted Adora and left him alone, forgetting about him after a while.  
From his bedroom door, a man came out, “Well, it sure took you long enough!” he complained, but he returned to a casual formality, “How goes the robbing and plunderin’ trade?”  
Treasure hunter and trail-worn traveler, searching the world over for relics of the past, his name was Bow, and he didn’t take too kindly to being mislabeled, “I PREFER the term “Treasure hunter!”  
“Ha!” the old man laughed, “Buncha semantics if you ask me!”  
With hands on his hips, Bow said, “There’s a HUGE difference!” he sighed but he dropped the insult, “But forget about it, you sent for me, right?”  
He nodded, “Sure did. There’s a girl I’d like you to meet.”  
After coming through Narshe, hearing curses and cries about a girl, he could guess who he wanted him to meet, “It’s that girl on that Magitek Armour? The one who came through here?” he shook his head, “I saw what she did.”  
“She’s got people here after her and Imperial troops after her too,” he sighed, “She don’t have it easy. And neither do we,” he came forward and looked Bow right in the eye, “This town isn’t gonna make it with the Empire hounding after it. We’ll need to join up with the Returners, and that girl could help us!”  
“Why would she want to help her? Wasn’t she with the Empire?” Bow asked, but a part of him wanted to help her whether or not she was Empire.  
“She had a Slave Crown on her. Whatever she did here wasn’t her doing. Can’t blame her for that,”  
Bow nodded, “Guess not. Yeah, we should help her,” he walked back to the Old Man’s bedroom, “She went to the mines right?”  
“Yep! Don’t know where she is, but she shouldn’t be hard to find. I wouldn’t recommend sticking around though!”  
Bow nodded, “Don’t worry, I know somewhere she’ll safe.”  
And with that, he left the Old Man for the Narshe Mines.

* * *

Adora still lay unconscious on the cave floors when Bow arrived. He came in by rope and examined her, “Yep, you’re still alive. Hey, can you hear me?” he tried gently slapping her face to get her awake, but all that arose was a short groan, “Well great! Ok, Bow!” he threw his arms in the air and paced around the mine, “You agreed to help this girl out and you’re going to, just gotta get her out of this town and back to Figaro! Yeah!”  
Bow reached under the girl and lifted her up to her feet, planning to drag her out of the caves. But he heard men from deeper within the cave, the very same kind of men he avoided while he snuck through Narshe, and the ones who wanted Adora on a platter.  
Fortune smiled on Bow when a group of Moogles came out of an opening in the cave and flooded the cave. Whether it was to help Bow or to protect their home, the Moogles stopped the Narshemen from marching any further into the caves. Whether it was against wolves or their mammoths, the moogles held their ground.  
“Thanks, moogles!” Bow cried out, and a single moogle stopped to offer him a thumbs up. Bow stopped to appreciate that rather human gesture for a few moments, but as the moogle left him to join his brethren, Bow picked up Adora off the floor, and slung her on his shoulders.  
The walk through the caves wasn’t long, and he soon felt the cold wind on his skin until he came upon a dead end. He put Adora against the wall of the cave, and was shocked she was still asleep.  
“Please tell me I’m not gonna carry you all the way to Figaro! Please!” he pleaded while he searched the walls for a switch.  
He heard about the switch when he was called to Narshe by his superiors, but he chose to enter Narshe through the main gate while all the hubbub was going on. He came to regret that move when over a dozen Narshemen chased him through the alleys, suspecting him to be an Empire spy.  
Bow found the switch and pulled it, and the walls of the cave parted from each other and opened to the world. The cave opening wasn’t very loud, but it was loud enough to wake Adora up.  
Bow noticed, “Oh thank god, you’re with us again!”  
Adora stood up slowly and looked at the treasure-hunter with a quizzical look in her eyes, yet her face remained stoic, “You... you saved me?”  
“I’d save your thanks for those moogles! They’re the ones that really saved our hides!” Bow rested against the cave walls to catch his breath, not even noticing Adora was on her knees, rubbing her temples.  
“I, I can’t remember anything, I-  
“You’re telling me you have amnesia?! You don’t remember anything?!” Bow jumped to his feet and looked Adora over.  
She shook her head, “No. All I remember is my name. Adora. That’s all I know. This old man told me that I would get them back, but.”  
She looked away from Bow. So her eyes couldn’t meet with his face, only with the ground. But he earned her full attention after putting his hand on her shoulder, “It’s ok, give it some time, and all your memories will come back,” he smiled and nodded to her, “Until that happens, you’re safe with me! I promise,” he pulled his hand off her shoulder and offered it for a handshake, “My name’s Bow. And you’re, Adora?”  
She looked at his hand confusedly. For a moment she didn’t know what he wanted, but she reached for his hand and held his in her own. Then she briefly regretted it when he squeezed her hand hard. She almost squealed in pain, but she returned the squeeze, “And, I’m Adora. I, I think.”  
Bow let go of her hand and looked out the cave entrance to the snow-covered lands, “Are you ready?”  
Adora saw the world out in front of her and asked, “Ready for what?”  
They walked through the secret cave entrance, where the walls came together and sealed behind them. They walked up to the entrance of Narshe where a small school building stood in front of the gate. They ignored the group of sages and walked away from Narshe’s vicinity, hoping that none of the Narshemen noticed Adora.  
To answer Adora’s question, he pulled out a map and pointed to a part of the land, where the desert was, “Right here,” Adora looked at his map but didn’t see a point or a place that showed a point of interest, “Last time I checked, Figaro Castle should be here.”  
The name didn’t ring any bells for Adora, but nothing had, “What’s there?”  
“A friend, an old friend of Bow’s, but, watch out for her,” Bow warned, as they started their journey from the mountain range toward the desert, “Entrapta can be, pretty weird.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Adora is Terra, Bow is Locke, and now Entrapta is gonna be Edgar. Because i love Entrapta so much, I love Edgar so much, and they're both engineers and inventors so i thought it fit best. but Kefka, he is still Kefka
> 
> I'll see you all next time.


	3. Chapter 3

Bow studied his map of the continent, pointing to a small forest out of the mountain range that Narshe settled itself into, and just before the massive desert, “And once we’re out of this forest, we have the desert, ugh,” he sat on the forest floor and groaned, “Entrapta? WHY the desert?!”   
Bow scratched his bandana-covered head and looked up at the sky, hidden by the trees. And by Adora, looking down at him.  
“So, Bow right? Where exactly are we going?”   
“Figaro Castle. In the desert,” and he fell back on the forest floor again.  
Adora, not knowing what to do, or what to even say, decided to join her new companion and lied down next to Bow in the same position, “So, what’s so bad about the desert?”   
“It. Adora, it is gonna be so hot,”   
“Hot,” she said, “I don’t think I’ve ever been in a desert before.”   
“Well, we’re gonna tell for sure whether or not you have. This is what I hate about being Entrapta’s contact,”  
That name again. He kept mentioning that name every so often, but not with a sign of hatred that his frustration would imply.  
“Alright, complaining about it isn’t going to solve anything,” Adora learned that Bow usually talked himself into things, rather than talking her into doing something. She still followed him anyway, “So, how about your memory? Anything coming back?”   
It had been a day since they left Narshe, but Adora shook her head, “No. Still don’t remember anything. Just my name.”   
Bow grimaced, but turned around with a smile on his face, “Hey, don’t worry. Like I said, it’ll all come back soon, just trust me, WOAH!” Bow had been walking backwards, and he fell into a bush, getting a good laugh out of Adora, “Well, at least you remember what’s funny.”   
“Here!” Adora said inbetween giggles, “Here, lemme help you up!”  
She offered a hand to Bow, who took it and felt his arm nearly pulled out of his socket, “Jeez, Adora! How hard have you been hitting the gym?”  
She looked at her arms and squeezed her hands, “I don’t know? Am I really that strong?”  
“Lot stronger than most women I know, that’s for sure,” Bow looked over to a small boulder inbetween some trees, “Think you can lift that rock over there?”  
Adora gave Bow a look. Memory loss was one thing, but you didn’t lose common sense with amnesia, “I don’t know how strong you think I am, but don’t ya think that’s a little out of my element?” she said, while walking toward the boulder.   
“Well, only one way to find out,” Bow smiled and crossed his arms.  
She sighed and kneeled down, and gripped the edges of the boulder. With all of her might she tried lifting it off the ground. And she tried too hard. To both Adora and Bow’s shock, she lifted the boulder over her head, and for the first time in centuries the boulder appreciated its movement, before Adora dropped it behind her.   
“How? I, How did I do that?!” Adora questioned, looking at her arms.   
“Hang on, lemme see,” Bow inspected the boulder, looking it over thoroughly before grabbing the edge of the rock and lifted.   
Bow strained himself, and to his, Adora’s, and the boulder’s disappointment, he could not lift the rock an inch off the ground. And so, the boulder remained still forever more.   
Bow panted on his knees, “So, I guess. That, you’re really strong, A-Adora.”   
Adora looked at her arms and flexed, “Yeah! I guess I am! I mean, I was a soldier right? Aren’t soldiers usually this strong?”  
Bow pulled his bandana off and wiped the sweat off his head, “Kinda? But, I’ve never met someone as strong as you though. Maybe you did heavy lifting?”   
She shrugged. Bow had hoped that the display of strength would trigger some memory, but all it did was get them to ask more questions. They left the boulder alone and continued their journey to Figaro Castle. Their trek was relatively peaceful. Sometimes a were-rabbit would attack, but they proved harmless when Bow defended them.   
Bow wielded two knives and with a slash from both, he would usually drive anything away. Adora asked if she could help fight, but Bow didn’t want her in danger. He wasn’t sure what she could do, and didn’t know if she even knew how to fight with her amnesia. So he reasoned that until they found a weapon for Adora to use, he should be the one to handle the fighting.   
Several hours of travel lead them out of the forest, and the desert was before them, “This is what you were worried about?”   
“Yeah,”  
“I can see why,”   
“Let’s get this over with,”   
Adora found out what he meant. He wanted to get across the desert during the night, when it was cold before the sun came out.   
The desert surrounding Figaro Castle was not an especially brutal desert, and Locke had grown accustomed to travelling its dunes over the years. But just like growing accustomed to bee stings when farming for honey, it was never pleasant, and he never looked forward to it.   
Adora shivered and sneezed at the sand when Bow threw his shirt over Adora, “Wouldn’t help if you froze to death out here.”   
“What about you?”   
Bow rubbed his arm to warm them up, “Oh DOn’t worRY! I’m used to the cold!”

* * *

They had to call it a night when the moon was at its peak, they were so tired and cold. They woke up as soon as the sun came from over the horizon and blinded them. Bow urged Adora to quickly gather herself and to keep moving. He tossed her a water skin he had kept for safety, and she drank the whole thing in one gulp.   
Bow hoped they would make it to Figaro before long.   
By midday, Bow pointed at a flat part of the desert where a castle stood in the center, “Adora! May I present, Figaro Castle!”  
The stone castle stood tall, even rivaling some of the tallest dunes, was surrounded by a cavalry of soldiers atop chocobos, and on top of the structures were spinning fans that confused Adora, but she just assumed that all castles were like this.  
She followed Bow to the entrance of the castle, a rather simple set of double-doors guarded by a single spearman, who stood in their way when they came within throwing distance, “Hold it!” he looked at Bow and Adora and nodded, “It’s only you. Proceed,” and he didn’t grace them with a look as they walked past.   
Once inside, the heat of the desert seemed to not exist. Inside was cool, not cold, but pleasant. To Adora’s left was a staircase where she could smell diesel fumes, and to her right were a hot draft, but she didn’t pay it too much mind. They climbed a tall set of stairs before walking outside at the top of that part of the castle.To both of their sides were castle towers that seemed to have grown out of the sands like a desert flower. She followed Bow before she could study them any further. He lead them inside to a hall. Immediately Adora noticed two shops at opposite sides of the hall, one selling odd-looking tools, and the other seeming to be a general store, given the sign hanging over the seller. As Adora followed Bow, he greeted random people and was met with friendly hello’s. No one seemed to notice her though.   
They were at one last set of double doors, “Alright, so here’s the throne room. Now, I just wanna prepare you for her.”   
“Bow, I, might not know, anything, or. Anyone. But I think I can handle this girl,”   
“Ok, just. Don’t freak out,”  
It was only then did Adora notice there weren’t any guards around the door. Bow opened the doors and led Adora through. The doors closed on their own.   
The light was very dim in that throne room. Only candles and small windows into the desert sun gave the room any light. Pieces of machinery were thrown about all over the place, and the whirring of a drill was heard. In the center of the throne room, just before the holy pair of thrones over the kingdom of Figaro was a workbench where a being with a welder’s mask worked on a piece of machinery that Adora nor Bow could see a reason for existing.   
“Um, Entrapta?” Bow tried to get her attention.  
“OH!” and on command the lights to the throne room came alive, showing more of the cluster of mechanical messes, “You must be the young woman!”   
She lifted her mask and an enormous grin greeted Adora. This was Entrapta? The queen? She didn’t look like a queen to Adora at all. Adora wanted to give the woman an awkward greeting, but then the woman’s long purple hair lifted her body off the ground and walked her over to Adora. The woman’s hair walked her around Adora, and she looked all over the girl. There was not a part of Adora that she didn’t take in with her eyes.  
“Yeeeees! Very fascinating! I never thought I would get the chance to see you! OH! I gotta record this!” she ran over to her workbench and fetched a voice recorder, “Daily log! I was working on the new Autocrossbow when my good friend slash confidante Bow came! Note to any imperial who maybe happening to be listening to this, but it’s not the Bow that is a world-renowned Treasure hunter who is also an emissary for the Returners, but some other Bow I happen to know. But note to me, that is the Bow we’re talking about! Bow came in with Adora! The Empire’s biggest secret!”  
Adora looked at Bow, who only shrugged, “Excuse me, who are you?”  
Entrapta turned around, like she suddenly remembered that Adora existed, “Oh, excuse my manners!” she turned around, with an even bigger grin, “I shouldn’t turn my back on such an important experiment!”  
The young queen of Figaro Castle, Imperial ally, and champion of the technological revolution, Entrapta Roni Figaro.  
“My name is Entrapta, the Queen of Figaro,” she offered her hand out to Adora.  
Adora begrudgingly took her hand to shake it and intended to finish this sentence, “It’s nice to meet you, I’m,” but Entrapta gripped her hand with her welding mittens.  
She shook Adora up and down, “Oh I know who you are, Adora! You’ve been an asset for the empire since you were a baby! Even recently I heard you incinerated fifty imperial soldiers in one of those Magitek armours! Boy do I want to get my hands on one of those! I would love to dissect them and see what makes them tick!”   
Entrapta was rambling on and on, not even noticing Bow nudging Adora, “Surprised that I’d know this queen?”  
“OH BOW! I forgot you were here!” Bow was then grabbed by her hair that lifted him into the air. Despite his protests, she held him up there, “Please, make yourself at home, Adora! Figaro and the Empire are allies! And I would never turn away such an important experiment to the empire,” she whispered something to herself, “Nor someone as pretty.”   
Entrapta walked out with Bow but stopped at the throne doors, “Why are you so interested in me? Is it because I’m an experiment? Because of my abilities?”   
Entrapta smiled, “Three reasons! One, I want to know what the empire did to make you so special to them. Two, I want to see if I could do it too with MY experiments!” then she lowered her mask, “I guess your abilities is why I’m interested,” then she lifted her mask, “And you’re pretty easy on the eyes!”  
Adora blinked and crossed her arms, “What’s your deal?”  
Bow, no longer protesting or struggling, observed the two women. Entrapta smiled, but closed her mask over herself, “It’s ok. I know I’m not, a very conventional person. But don’t worry about anything. You’ll be safe in my castle.”   
She walked out and left Adora alone amongst the metal. She looked down at her feet and felt nothing.   
“I know she’s supposed to be weird, but. Would a girl feel something about her? Not me,” Adora walked out of the throne room, “I don’t feel anything.”

* * *

Bow and Entrapta were on top of Figaro Castle, the desert winds blowing Entrapta’s twin pigtails in the wind, “I tell you, Bow! You brought a VERY fascinating specimen to me! You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to find out what Adora is!”   
“You didn’t have to, have a happy ending, on her there. You kinda freaked her out,” Bow reprimanded her.  
“Sorry, I just get like that,”   
Bow nodded and leaned back against the edge of the roof, “Is that part about the fifty troops true?”  
Entrapta pulled her mask down, “Had imperials talking about it for months. They all mentioned a girl, and based on what I know, that girl matches Adora. But,” she lifted her mask and put her chin in between her thumb and index finger, “Adora doesn’t seem like that kind of girl who’d do that. I need more data on her.”   
Bow pulled the Slave Crown from his pouch, “Maybe this explains it?”   
He could barely hold onto the device before Entrapta was examining it, “This! This is a Slave Crown! They were developing this in R&D at Vector last I visited, but I didn’t think it got far into development!” she stared at the red jewel, “From what I heard, this thing was commissioned by Gestahl’s dog. Kefka Palazzo.”   
“Must’ve been who had her under control. That thing made her kill all those Narshemen, she even has memory loss,”  
“That explains her behavior,”   
Bow crossed his arms while Entrapta studied the Slave Crown, “Well, until she recovers her memory, it would be a good idea to keep her here. No sense in letting the Empire know she’s here.”   
“Should I head to the Returner’s Base and let Castaspella know?” Bow asked.   
“Not yet. As, much as it hurts to say, we need to know why she was important to the Empire before we can plank how to use her against the Empire,” a lock of hair was on Bow’s shoulder like an arm, “You’ve travelled a lot, you should rest and, let me think for awhile.”   
Bow opened the hatch to climb back down into the castle, “But remember, it’s her choice if she wants to fight for us.”   
Entrapta looked out into the desert and nodded, “I hope I do, before I get carried away.”

* * *

**Ten years ago.**

* * *

Entrapta was studying in the castle library. She was doing anything to keep her mind off of things. She was reading a book, letting the words flow nonstop so she didn’t have to think about what was happening, to her father.   
“Entrapta?” she walked through the door to her table, “What’s wrong with everyone? All I hear about his successor this, and successor that! But, they’re wrong, right? Dad’s king! He’ll always be king, right?”  
No book. No invention. No experiment. Nothing, could distract her now. Now that she brought it to her, “Have you seen how thin his face is?”  
“What, do you mean?” she asked. Entrapta couldn’t face her. She swiftly stepped out of her study and out toward the stairs, “Entrapta!”   
She stopped to look back. Then she pulled her mask down.   
She was alone in that library, “Were you crying?”

* * *

Adora had slept in one of the castle’s spare beds. It was nice to sleep in a bed again, but she had a hard time sleeping in an unknown place. She didn’t drift off to sleep for an hour, and that whole time was filled with thinking. The same thinking she had been doing since she woke up in Narshe.   
Who was she? Why was she so important?   
“Even recently I heard you incinerated fifty imperial soldiers!”   
Did she really do that? How could she?  
Adora lifted her hand, “Fire. Fire! Fire?”  
If she was expecting a flame to burst from her hand, she was disappointed. She squeezed her palm and wandered the castle.   
Her hand was warmer though.   
Adora walked through the halls and open areas of Figaro. When she passed by a mirror did she finally realize what she wore. So many things had happened in the past few days she hadn’t realized what she was wearing. She had on a flowing red top over a white undershirt, a large piece of white-blue cloth was tied around her waist and her white pants. She had on a pair of red boots and a white cape, and her blonde hair was tied in a ponytail.   
“Huh, I guess whoever I was liked this?” She looked at the cape and took it off of her back and shoved it in a corner. She looked herself over and liked this look better, “Well, Adora. I don’t know who you are, but you’re not wearing a cape.”   
She walked over to Figaro’s throne room. The place was still a mess from yesterday but the machinery was tidied up into piles that were organized at different parts of the room. It seemed that someone did clean the place up, but didn’t bother to throw anything out. Entrapta was sitting at one of the two thrones. Yesterday she had been dressed very simply in work pants and a grease-stained white shirt, and Adora was surprised that she was the queen. But today, Entrapta was dressed regally in a royal blue outfit that conveyed elegance. Entrapta’s hair fiddled with the cape she wore and at her side was a scabbard. Adora wondered why she wasn’t wearing a crown, but she assumed that a monarch was allowed to not wear a crown. After all, didn’t they make the rules?  
“Uh, good morning, your highness?”   
Entrapta shook her head, “Oh, don’t be formal. Just Entrapta will do,” Adora relaxed when she spoke calmly for once. Then Entrapta smled, “SO!” Adora tensed when the queen’s hair lifted her out of her throne and inspected her, “How did you like my castle?! It’s the peak of technological advancements! When... I start implementing them. Right now it can do two things that are SUPER COOL!”  
Adora was prepared to listen to Entrapta ramble about Figaro’s abilities when one of the guards burst through the door, “MY QUEEN!”   
Entrapta looked past Adora and was lifted by her hair to him, “What’s wrong?”  
He panted and answered, “Imperial soldiers are coming from the south!” he swallowed some fear in his voice, “The clown’s among them.”   
“Kefka,” Entrapta’s voice was low. Adora for once, heard fear in her voice.  
For whatever reason, Adora felt that fear.

* * *

South of Figaro Castle, a pair of imperial soldiers accompanied a rather unusual man. His skin was painted white, and his face was covered in makeup. A black smile painted over his mouth and yellow markings under his eyes. His yellow hair was tied and multi-colored feathers stuck out of his hair. The rest of him was an assault of color. He resembled a harlequin, one that shouldn’t be leading a pair of soldiers in the desert. And though there was that smile on him, his eyes were full of hatred.  
The soldiers walked toward the castle, but stopped when they realized their commanding officer had stopped to squat in the middle of the desert. They hesitated to ask what he was doing out of fear.   
“Phooey!” he kicked the sand, “Emperor Gestahl’s stupid orders!”  
The two men shared a look when the harlequin jumped into the air and cried out, “Entrapta you PINHEAD! Why do you have to live in the middle of a stinking desert!” he kicked the sand again, “This stupid retrieval mission! This is the pits! THE PITS I SAY!”   
Suddenly, the harlequin looked down at his boots and complained, “AHEM! There’s SAND on my BOOTS!” he waved his foot out. The soldiers scrambled to pull out their cleaning clothes and wipe all the sand off his boots.   
“All gone, sir!” the soldier saluted the harlequin that ordered them such a menial task with the greatest respect.   
The harlequin nodded and laughed, “Uwee ha ha ha!” then he kicked sand at his men, “Pathetic!”   
The soldiers followed the harlequin, despite their desires to ditch him in a sand dune to Figaro Castle. The harlequin threw a soldier to the side and walked inside the castle. All the hustle and bustle ceased when everyone witnessed him walk inside. His smile was huge, and he relished the terror his appearance delivered to all.   
Once out in the desert heat, his march into the heart of Figaro Castle was stopped by his “ally.”  
Entrapta stood alone. She walked over to the harlequin and his two soldiers, “Oh my! What brings Emperor Gestahl’s own court mage, Kefka Palazzo to my wonderful castle?” she looked at the two soldiers and asked, “You didn’t happen to bring those Magitek Armours right? I would love to examin those pieces of machinery! Unless, you’re using them to conquer nations?”   
“SILENCE!” Kefka jumped into the air, “And keep quiet when I’m here on orders! Now!” Kefka coughed into his fist, “A girl of no importance recently escaped from us. We heard that she was in the area, perhaps even here at Figaro?”   
Entrapta rubbed her chin, “Now that you mention it? I’ve heard about this witch that attacked Narshe. It’s had my people in fear,” then she turned to Kefka with a wide grin on her face, “AND I JUST GOTTA GET MY HANDS ON HER!”  
“WHAT?!”  
“I HAVE to figure out how she did that! But, I can’t,” she pulled her mask down, “If she were here, I would love to send my reports on her abilities to the emperor, but I can’t. I’ve looked all over for her, but I haven’t found a trace of this girl,” she lifted her mask, “Sorry, Kefka. I’m afraid I can’t help you,” she shrugged.  
Kefka blinked and shook his head. He walked over to an edge and glided his black-colred fingernail across the stone balcony, “Oh, Entrapta. You only stand to lose by hiding her from us.”   
“As your ally, I have nothing to hide from you!” she smiled.   
Kefka smiled back, “I would hope so. For the sake of your precious castle, hee hee hee.”  
Entrapta watched him leave with his men, when she collapsed on the floor. Bow came to her side and helped her up, “Are you ok?”   
Entrapta nodded, “Yeah, it’s just. Being anywhere near him takes it out of ya.”  
Bow shook his head, “I don’t like him at all, he’s up to something.”  
“Glad we’re on the same page. I’ll have to talk to my chancellor about this. Some bad theories are brewing in my mind, and. Oh, what’s wrong, Adora?”  
Adora appeared behind them and looked out into the desert, “Who was he?”   
He walked out to the horizon, and while Adora didn’t know him, she recognized him. Just didn’t know where.   
“Kefka Palazzo,” Entrapta explained, “He’s the court mage to the Empire.”   
“And Gestahl’s lap dog,”  
Kefka Palazzo. That name. She didn’t know it. But it felt right, no. That was wrong. It was wrong, wrong, wrong. He was wrong. But, why? What did he do? Something. He did something to her. And whatever it was, it was bad enough that Adora, even with no memories, to know and fear Kefka Palazzo.   
“Adora? Are you ok?” Bow asked.  
“You should take her inside, Bow,” she advised before disappearing to talk with her chancellor.   
Bow got Adora to follow him to the eastern tower to his temporary room. He sat Adora down and got to cooling himself down.   
“I’m sorry I dragged you into this, I thought you would be safe and-  
“Bow?”  
“Yeah?”  
“Why is a thief working with a queen?”  
“FIRST OFF! TREASURE! HUNTER!” Bow exasperated, “And, it’s because Entrapta’s been against the empire for a while. She pretends to support them, but she’s been collaborating with a resistance group. Called the Returners. She supplies them with weapons, supplies, and intelligence,” Bow explained, “I work between them.”  
Adora nodded. She didn’t expect a queen to support rebels, but if the empire was like that Kefka, then maybe she had a reason to. But, she was empire? Shouldn’t Entrapta want her gone? Why was she helping her?  
“That old man who helped you in Narshe? Arvis? He’s one of us,”  
“But, aren’t I an Imperial soldier? I, didn’t I do these, horrible things to Narshe?”  
“No,” Bow stood up and hugged her, “Adora, they were using you. Things are different now.”   
But Adora pushed him away, “Even if things are different, that doesn’t change that I don’t know what’s going on, and I don’t know what to do! I don’t know who I am!” she turned away from the treasure hunter, “You don’t know how much it hurts when I try to think and understand anything!”  
Adora felt her hand in Bow’s, “I know it’s hard. But, right now. You can decide. You have a choice. I know you’ll make the right choice, when the time comes.”  
Adora’s hand was limp, and he let it go. He left her alone and walked back towards the castle. While Adora was alone she asked herself, “How do I even know what the right choice will be?”

* * *

That night under a cool desert moon, Entrapta slept in the Queen’s Quarters, dreaming of monstrous machinery brought to life. She turned over in her sleep and snored, but her sleep was disturbed. She smelled something.   
“Chancellor, is someone cooking?” she sleep-talked. But the smoke she smelled grew more and more unpleasant.  
She quickly got dressed to inspect what was going on. She got out to the open area of her castle, and the whole outside was ablaze. Her men were running about trying to put out the fire. In the center of it all, was Kefka Palazzo. He stood amongst the fire, laughing.   
“KEFKA! WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?!”   
He laughed, “UWEE HA HA HA! You should have known what you wrought when you lied to me! Now bring me the girl!”   
Entrapta looked around at her men, all the people of her castle. In an instant, their alliedship with empire had ended. Even if she hadn’t lied, it was clear that her tie to the empire meant nothing.   
Entrapta walked over to the doors to the main hall of Figaro Castle, Kefka at her feet. The chancellor was there, and she nodded to him. He smiled and ran inside.  
“Well?! Are you gonna bring me the girl? Or do more of your people need to suffer?!” she saw the smile on his face, and the men behind him had a similar grin.   
Entrapta nodded, “I guess I have no choice.”  
From atop the highest tower of Figaro, her chancellor threw a spear down. Her left pigtail grabbed the spear, spun it like a baton, handed it to her right pigtail, and then she grabbed the spear. She thrust the spear at Kefka, “Or perhaps I do!”   
She ran over to the balcony of her castle and jumped off the edge, her hair gently dropping her on the back of a chocobo. She ran her chocobo and the two following it around the back of Figaro Castle, all while Kefka watched in glee.   
“Uwee ha ha! Oh my! The brave and noble queen abandons her people to save her own skin!” his hand touched his forehead and he pulled his head back to laugh, “Hee hee hee! How delightful!”   
Entrapta ran her chocobo to the eastern tower where Bow and Adora stood on the bridge.   
“Did you bring my inventions?!” she shouted at them. Bow held up two cases to her, “GOOD! JUMP!”   
Kefka saw two people jump from the eastern tower and beckoned his men to follow, “Come, men! We have a traitor to burn!”   
His men smiled with glee, “He he he! Fire burn!”   
The harlequin walked out the front doors of Figaro Castle to witness Adora, running behind Entrapta. Their eyes locked for a single moment before she turned away and ran her chocobo faster.   
“My lord? Isn’t that Adora?”   
“Wasn’t she why we’re out here?!”   
“GET THEM!” Kefka screamed, “KILL ENTRAPTA AND THAT WELP! BRING THE GIRL TO ME!”   
When the soldiers weren’t catching the hint from his screaming, they got it when he kicked them in their rears. They charged toward two unmanned Magitek Armours, and brought them to life. Their mechanical roar filled the desert and they charged.   
“ENTRAPTA?! WE’VE GOT IMPERIALS AFTER US!”   
Entrapta looked behind and smiled, “Don’t worry! This is exactly what my latest invention is for!” she took one of the cases from Bow’s chocobo and pulled out the device she had been working on when Adora first met her, “Steer clear of this! Let’s test what the Autocrossbow can do!”   
She turned around and aimed the autocrossbow at the Magitek Armours. She shut one eye and pulled the trigger. From the invention a flurry of arrows flew out to their pursuers and pierced their metal armor, but did nothing to stop them.   
“YES! The autocrossbow is a huge success!” Entrapta cheered.  
“OK, but we’re still being chased by Magitek!”   
“Oh right. Uh,” Entrapta looked behind them. A chocobo was fast, but there was a reason the Empire was using these monsters to conquer nations; they were faster.   
“ENTRAPTA?!”   
“Uhh! Hold on! My bioblaster isn’t complete yet, but hopefully it’ll do something and, WAIT ADORA!”   
Adora jumped off her chocobo and faced the charing Magitek Armors. There was a feeling inside her. Somehow, she knew she could do something against these things.   
“You said I’ll make the right choice when it’s time, Bow,” she raised her hands and opened their palms where she could see the soldiers inbetween her fingers, “Well. It’s time.”  
Before the Imperials could grab Adora. Before Bow or Entrapta could call out her name. Before Kefka could laugh in triumph.   
Two pillars of fire burst from Adora’s palms. They pierced through the Magitek Armours, and rose high into the sky. One of the armours had a massive hole in its center and fell over on its front, while the other had its right limbs seared off. Both pilots fled from Adora past their commanding officer.   
And Adora, for her entire attack, she wore a scowl on her face. Her brows furrowed, and her eyes set on Kefka.   
“Adora?” she looked up and saw Bow with her chocobo, “What did you just-  
“No time!” Entrapta shouted, “We gotta go!”   
“But-  
Entrapta pulled a flare from her pocket before Bow could protest, and fired the flare high into the desert sky. Kefka looked up at the flare, and turned around when machinery seemed to come to life. A titanic diesel engine sounded deep within Figaro Castle, and smoke plumed from the castle smokestacks. The eastern and western towers dragged themselves toward the main part of the castle, and then, the castle sunk.  
Figaro Castle buried itself beneath the earth, the last of its towers sinking beneath the dunes.   
The chaos threw Kefka off his feet, and he laid against the desert sands. He pulled himself up to see Entrapta leading Bow and Adora out of the desert.  
“You! Entrapta! You son of a sandworm! You will pay for this!”   
But the champion of technology could not care, “Did you see that, Bow? Adora? The power! Of my castle! It was all by my design that I created a castle with the ultimate defense! Hiding! You can’t fight an enemy you can’t even find!”   
“That was incredible, Entrapta! I, I always heard that castle was advanced but, gosh you keep surprising me!”   
“Oh why thank you! But if anyone’s a surprise, it’s Adora over here!” Entrapta ran next to Adora and looked at her hands, “I was wondering what your abilities were! Why you were so important to the Empire, and now I get it! You can use..... MAGIC!”   
“Magic?” Adora asked calmly.  
“MAGIC!?” Bow asked panicked.   
“Yes! The lost art! I thought humans were incapable of using magic like you but, I am so glad to be wrong!” Entrapta grinned, “Adora! You’re the first human in a thousand years to use magic!”   
“I, I can?” Adora asked, “Me and Bow just thought I was really strong?”   
“Who knows what you’re capable of! But one things for certain, I’m going to do a lot of studying and-  
“Entrapta,” Bow put a hand on the queen’s shoulder, “You’re making Adora nervous.”   
Entrapta looked from Bow over to her, her face looking down at the ground, “Oh, I’m sorry, Adora. It’s just, OH I get so excited about-  
“We know. Just know that, Adora is still just like you and me. She can use magic, and we can’t. Ok?”   
Entrapta nodded and Adora nodded to the treasure hunter. Now that the group was at peace, they moved on south on their chocobos. Adora did wonder if they could return to Figaro, but Entrapta explained that since her betrayl would be public to the Empire, they wouldn’t be safe there. Her people had to worry about protecting themselves first, and they agreed that since the empire would be after them, they needed to keep moving.   
Entrapta and Bow needed to find their mentor, the one who convinced them to join the Returners in the first place. Castaspella was beyond Mt. Kolts and that was past South Figaro. For now their plan was to head to South Figaro and regroup.  
A former imperial soldier, a world-travelling treasure hunter, and a queen on the run rode across the desert on their chocobos to their destinies.

* * *

Kefka sat on the top of a sand dune, grumbling to himself. The soldiers he brought with him were too scared to ask him what their next move was and resigned themselves to allow their commanding officer to sulk. But the harlequin made a decision.   
“Men! We’re returning to Vector!” he yelled and started walking in that direction.   
“What about Adora? Shouldn’t we go after her?” one of the men asked.   
A blast of fire tore through a sand dune, “WE! WE! WE! WE! WE!” he drew a dagger from his boots and glared at the soldier, “WE! I’ve had enough of this We Business! So listen up! I’m gonna get my hands on Adora! And you two! I think Gestahl will be pleased when his precious men died honorable deaths at the hands of a traitor! DON’T YOU THINK?!”  
The wind carried his laugh across the desert.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey gamers! Hope y'all enjoyed this chapter! Entrapta is VERY fun to write. I think I wanna figure out a fic about Entrapta solely so that I can keep writing her. Anyways, this was a lot longer with dealing a sole area of the game. But this is such an iconic part of Final Fantasy VI and it felt apropriate to deal so much time to it. 
> 
> Gee, I wonder who Entrapta's sister could be? Had to be a sister. There's like, three boys in this show, and two of them are too twink to be Sabin. *dab*
> 
> Anyway! Hope y'all enjoy this, the next chapter will be a bit shorter and I'll see y'all then.


	4. Chapter 4

The journey to South Figaro was largely uneventful. Entrapta led Bow and Adora through the cave in the mountains that divided the continent. The group learned to love the autocrossbow, as far too often did it wipe away any monsters that attacked. A few times a larger monster would appear and Adora would blast it away with a burst of fire, but after casting magic too many times, she found herself unable to cast any magic.   
This worried Bow, but Entrapta theorized that whatever power she had might have run out for the time being, and it would return if she rested. Sure enough, when the party left the caves and rested outside, Adora casted a wave of fire from her hands.   
She even discovered she could heal wounds after Bow was scratched by a very aggressive rabbit.   
Still, they were glad to be in South Figaro but they couldn’t rest just yet. Entrapta visited a small house, leaving Adora and Bow outside for a while, “You doing ok, Adora?”   
“What? Oh yeah! You know, if it weren’t for everything going wrong, I think I’d be a little freaked out by this magic thing, but I’m not! In fact, I think this is relieving some stress!” she smiled.   
“I would probably keep quiet about the whole magic thing for now, Adora,” Bow whispered, “Just in case there’s any imperial ears around here.”  
“Ohh, gotcha,” Adora leaned against the house wall, and when a Figaronian walked past, she pointed to him and said, “Hey, fellow normal person. Just enjoying being normal over here.”  
He glanced at Adora for a moment, shook his head, and continued walking along with a bottle of cider in his hands.   
“See, Bow? I’ve got this normal thing down,”  
“That isn’t what-  
Entrapta kicked the door open, “OKAY! Let’s get lunch!”   
“What was that about?!” Bow demanded in a slightly irritated tone from having a door kicked into his liver.   
“Oh, this guy is a relative of my chancellor! He gave us some money and gave me a change of clothes!” indeed, Entrapta had gone from the regal look to something akin to the work outfit she had on when they first met. A pair of work pants and a furred-jacket over a tank top adorned her, “Now c’mon! There’s this pub that serves amazing food!”   
“Why did you change?” Adora asked.  
“I figured that it would be best if I weren’t recognized as a queen while on the road,” she explained, “If you need a disguise, Adora we can get something for ya on the way out!”  
They followed Entrapta into a pub where they found themselves some seats and got into some food. While eating, Bow was bumped into by someone.  
“Hey, excuse me!” he complained, “You could say sorry?”   
Entrapta hadn’t paid full attention to the encounter, but when she caught a glimpse of the figure and his dog, she jumped to Bow and pulled him back, “Oh! Don’t mind him, sir! He’s just a little cranky from the trip!”   
“No, do mind me! Entrapta, he bumped into me!”  
“Is that a problem?” his voice was low, and the growl seemed natural. His dog gave Bow his full attention, and Bow wished he didn’t.   
He comes and goes like the wind, swearing allegiance to no one. Hidden behind his wintry gaze is a face known to none who live.   
“If your friend values his life, tell him to keep his mouth shut,” his words cut through the party. He turned away from them but he stopped upon hearing Adora stand up, “Do you have a problem?”  
“Yeah. You bumped into my friend, now apologize,” Adora narrowed her eyes at the ninja.   
He grunted, “My apologies, Bow was it? Now, leave us be. We have travelled far.”  
He and the dog walked to the bar and sat at a barstool, one hand petting his dog, and the other on his sword.   
Entrapta marshalled them out of the pub, “Are you two crazy?!”  
“Coming from you?” Adora laughed.  
Entrapta glared at Adora and shook her head, “Do you know who that was? That was Shadow!”   
Bow’s frustration drained away, and he was overcome with fear, “HE was Shadow?! The assassin?!” Bow cried.   
“Yeah. From what I’ve heard, he would slit his mama’s throat for a nickel!” Entrapta walked them out of the pub toward the market, “We don’t need to get his attention, it’s never worth it.”   
In the pub, Shadow pulled a part of his mask off to drink. The bartender was intimidated by the assassin, but he still served him. He never made eye contact more than once.   
Those eyes. Those red eyes could cut through a man like a knife.

* * *

The town arsenal had a small selection of weapons for the party. Entrapta seemed to be satisfied with the spear her chancellor had thrown her, and none of the armor appealed to her. She did offer to pay for Adora and Bow’s purchases. Which she did. Bow wasn’t interested in armor, but he did end up replacing two of his knives for daggers pretty quickly. Adora on the other hand was taking a bit of time to find a weapon that suited her. She did have her magic, but that wasn’t going to last forever. So she needed something to defend herself when magic wasn’t going to cut it.   
The arsenal manager took a look at Adora and suggested a longsword, but Adora wasn’t fond of how light it was. Then he brought a bastard sword, and while she liked it better, it still wasn’t what Adora was looking for. The gloves were off for him, and he presented Adora with a claymore.   
“This. Is. Perfect,” she declared.   
“Are ya sure? That sword seems mighty heavy for ya,”   
“Oh it’s fine. Actually, can I have a shield? Do you have any?”   
The arsenal manager didn’t think he was going to see a girl with a claymore and a kite shield leave his shop. But he did, and though he was bewildered, he was paid. So he was happy.   
Adora wore the claymore and shield on her back and didn’t seem to be bothered by the new burden, though Bow was concerned for how baffling the sight was.   
“So, Entrapta? What’s our plan? You guys have a plan right?” Adora asked.   
“We’re gonna regroup with the Returners! Then we’ll plot our next move against the Empire!” Entrapta declared.   
“Against?” Adora chimed in.  
Bow put a hand on her shoulders, “Hey, relax. We’ll make a plan when we get there. For now, we gotta worry about, ugh. Mt. Kolts.”   
Adora was getting the impression that Bow hated travelling on any terrain besides grassy, flat plains. She did notice Entrapta grow a little worried at the mention of this mountain, but it didn’t concern her.   
Entrapta stopped at an item shop to pick up some supplies, and rented three chocobo from the farm. The three they rode to the caves had to be abandoned, as those birds detested any cave. They weren’t worried about them. As all chocobo will return home no matter what.   
With all of their supplies, and feeling rather ready, the party set off to the east, toward Mt. Kolt.  
But they made a small detour. They were travelling too far north to meet Mt. Kolt, and they were going to adjust their trajectory, but as Bow was planning their route, Entrapta caught sight of a house in the distance.   
Without thinking, and seemingly being called toward the house, she rode her chocobo north. Adora pointed this out to Bow, and he yelled out in frustration for a good minute. Then he followed the queen. Adora scratched her head and shared a confused look with her chocobo before running off after them.   
By the time they caught up with the Figaro Queen, she was off her chocobo and exploring the cottage. She scratched her chin, and seemed deep in thought. Then she walked over to the door and knocked a couple of times. There wasn’t an answer, so Entrpata thought it was only natural that she opened the door and inspected the inside.  
Adora wondered if it was normal for people to come barging into a stranger’s home. Then she realized she was dealing with a queen who likely was used to barging into places, and a treasure hunter who likely barged into places on a regular basis. So she followed them into the cottage.   
The cottage was quaint. There were two beds in a corner of the room with a flower-topped nightstand dividing them. A table and chairs in another corner. A stove next to a cabinet filled with fine china. Entrapta surveyed all of these details, hovering over them as her hair walked her around the cottage.   
Bow and Adora watched Etrapta wander the cottage for a good while, surprised that she was so quiet the whole time. Never did it seem like the queen was going to start rambling, “C’mon, I’ve seen enough,” she suddenly spoke, and the treasure hunter and magic soldier followed her outside.   
There they were surprised by the old man petting their chocobos.  
“Um, who are you?” Bow asked.  
“Oh just some traveller like yourselves. What brings you to this cottage?” he was an old, white-bearded man in blue robes, but Bow never eyed him without suspicion.   
“Do you know who lives here?” Entrapta suddenly asked.   
The man chuckled, “Why I do. This here belonged to that ol’ Duncan. Heard folks call him some martial arts master.”   
“Did any girls live with him?” Entrapta asked.   
“Hee hee, I seem to recall so. Didn’t make his wife too happy, but he lived with a girl for a long while, ‘long with his son Vargas,” he started his way north of the cottage, “I’d be careful around Mt. Kolts. What I heard, Duncan and Vargas went missing last time they were there.”  
He walked past the cottage, but Entrapta’s pigtail stopped him, “And where’s the girl?”   
“‘Fraid I can’t say. Sorry,” he pushed the hair off of him and kept walking forward.  
The three watched the old man walk off into the distance before mounting their chocobos once more. Bow and Adora didn’t ask Entrapta any questions about their stop at the cottage, and continued their journey to Mt. Kolt.   
Night fell by the time they reached the base of the mountain, and they thought the climb would be too cold under the moon, so Bow and Entrapta elected to stay the night. Adora wondered if their minds would change if she brought up her fire magic. The chocobos sensed their journey was over with, and ran back to South Figaro as soon as the group set up camp.  
When they finally set up their tent and they were wrapped up in their blankets, Adora decided to ask, “Who were you looking for at the cottage, Entrapta?”  
The welder’s mask came down, “I was, looking for someone. I think, she was there.”  
“Who?” Bow asked.   
“Someone important,” she shook her head and turned herself over, “Don’t worry about it.”

* * *

They woke up when they felt the warmth of the morning and quickly broke camp to trek up the mountain. The journey wasn’t pleasant. Mammoths grazed around the mountain range, and the bulls would attack them if they approached any herd.  
Entrapta used these opportunities to test her autocrossbow and modify it. At first, the arrows bounced off the mammoth hides, but after a few screws tightened and a spring added here and there, the autocrossbow could fire arrows that pierced through even rock.   
“Entrapta, where are you getting all of these arrows? Where do you keep them?” Bow asked, pulling said arrow from the body of a mammoth.   
“One of Figaro’s biggest secrets,” Entrapta laughed.   
Adora and Bow shrugged and followed a path up the mountain. This path led them through caves and up slopes, but their journey was long. A whole day had passed, and the group was still on that mountain, and very high up. Taking shelter inside of a cave, Bow and Adora set to work building up a tent and the trio fell asleep, huddling close to shield themselves from the cold winds.   
But that whole night, all three of them felt something. Like, they weren’t alone. Something was following them, and watching them. Maybe not in that cave, but on that mountain. They didn’t let each other know what they felt. There was no point when everyone could feel it. Sometimes Bow would spy a shadow creeping around a boulder. He wondered if it was Shadow, coming after them for their insult. Adora sensed someone was following them, but couldn’t see them like Bow could. She worried that it was Kefka. They hadn’t seen him since they fled Figaro, and Entrapta did hear from one of her subjects that he returned to Vector, wherever that was, but seeing him then. Who was he? And why did he have this power over Adora?   
“Does it have something to do with the slave crown?” she asked herself out loud.  
“Did you say something, Adora?” Bow asked.   
She shook her head, “It’s nothing. Just, something up with my head.”   
“Any new memories?” Bow changed the subject, though it bore no fruit.   
Adora shook her head once more, “Nope, but. Can I ask you something? What do you guys know about Kefka Palazzo?”   
Entrapta grunted but remained silent. It fell on Bow to speak on the subject, “Kefka’s, a freak. He’s the court magician, but he’s the Emperor’s personal lapdog. I’ve heard he’s done horrible things al lover the world. Thing is, noen of the Returners are sure what rank he holds. We had some spies who saw him standing by the Generals, but, as far as they know he’s just the Emperor’s right hand man. Other than the nasty stuff, not a lot we know about him. We’re not even sure where he came from.”   
Entrapta spoke up, “I tried asking, last time I was in Vector. As far as anyone knows, he showed up one day.”   
This didn’t answer any of Adora’s questions. This only made her more afraid of that clown’s name.   
Several hours into the day, the party came across a cave-opening, guarded by a muscular man in martial arts gi. Bow and entrapta debated on how to approach him, but Adora walked forward. The man clearly saw Adora and swiftly knocked her off balance. She fell on her back, and Bow scrambled to help her up.  
“What’s the deal? We’re just trying to get through!” Bow shouted.  
“Hmph,” the man crossed his arms, “Mt. Kolts is sacred. Outsiders are not welcome.”   
Bow’s eyes widened, “You, you’re the guy that’s been following us up the mountain, aren’t you!?”   
He grinned, “So what if I am? You’re just the search party Glimmer sent,”   
Entrapta came in between them and looked the stranger in the eye, “Glimmer? Glimmer’s here?”   
The stranger went into a fighting stance, “Hmph. It doesn’t matter who you are. I’ve got no plans of surrender!” he pulled his fist back, “Woe is the day you met me! It’ll be the last day of your lives!”   
He threw his fist forward, and a gale of wind came forward. Bow and Adora held each other down while Entrapta held to boulders with her hair. When the gale subsided, the party got to their feet, and their opponent stood on a boulder, arms crossed, grinning smugly.   
Adora scowled at him and held her hand up, “You won’t be smiling after this!” she knew he wasn’t expecting a plume of fire to come out of her palm, but she didn’t expect him to counter-attack so quickly. He jumped out of the way and charged at Adora. He spin-kicked her into the ground. He felt the air cutting from Bow’s daggers and dodged his attack, and then punched him in the gut. He fell to the ground with Adora, groaning in pain.   
He heard Entrapta aiming the Autocrossbow at him. He punched a wind of gale at the royal mechanic, and all of the arrows shot out of the device slowed down and fell harmlessly to the ground.   
“Enough of this,” he jumped back and stood on a boulder. Entrapta suddenly realized that their backs were to the cliff, “I’ll send you all to the great beyond!”   
Just as he was about to send a fist of wind at them, a figure appeared, faster than they could see, “Not so fast, Vargas!” this newcomer punched Vargas’s wrist, and a gale of wind blew high into the sky.  
Entrapta recognized this new figure. Vargas looked her over contemptuously, “If it isn’t Glimmer,” he said while tending to his injured wrist.   
“Why did you do it, Vargas? Why did you kill Master Duncan?” Adora took note of this woman. She was far shorter than Vargas, and shorter than both Adora and Bow and looked much younger than all of them, though she was taller than Entrapta. Yet despite that, she was packed with muscles that her blue tank top did nothing to hide. For a martial arts warrior, her hair was styled short and wavy, which surprised Adora, considering how wild Vargas’s hair was, “How could you kill your own father?!”   
Vargas sneered, “That fool snubbed his only son! And chose you as his successor!”   
Glimmer shook her head, “That’s not true! He-  
“Don’t try to lie! I can see it written on your face!”   
Glimmer shook her head, “He wanted you to be his successor, Vargas,” this caught his attention. Glimmer spoke as calm as she could with as much sympathy for this common enemy they all had, “He saw all the potential you had, and knew you could be his greatest student.”  
Vargas shook his head, “All lies! I’m sick of hearing them!” ice encased Vargas’s fist and he threw another punch. This gale was much stronger than any of his other punches, and it blew Adora, Bow, and Entrapta into a mountain wall. Glimmer braced herself for the attack and stood her ground, “Glimmer! Fate had us train together, and now fate will have us fight to the death!” he laughed, preparing himself for battle.  
“I guess there’s no avoiding this,” Glimmer groaned. She prepared herself for an attack, but Vargas caught her off guard.   
“Prepare to meet your precious master!” dark energy emanated from his fist, and he punched her in the shoulder, knocking her back.   
Glimmer felt the wound and realized that if she didn’t end this battle quickly, she was going to die soon. She prepared herself for the attack once more, “Ok, Vargas. You want fate to decide this battle! Fine!”   
Vargas was about to throw another punch, and this one was going to throw Glimmer not only off the mountain but all the way to Vector. But suddenly, Glimmer disappeared.   
Adora looked around the mountain, wondering if this was one of Vargas’s tricks. Entrapta was watching, and it seemed like to Adora, she understood what was going on.   
Glimmer reappeared before Vargas, both of her fists raised, “Raging Fist!” and what seemed like hundred of fists pummeled into Vargas.   
Vargas didn’t feel the pain of these strikes at first, but he fell to the ground on his knees, “The master taught you, that technique?” he wheezed.  
Glimmer looked down at him, “Pride was your weakness, Vargas.”  
His eyes sunk, and his head fell to the ground. Glimmer rose from the ground and felt her shoulder. Whatever it was that Vargas did to her with that punch seemed to go away. Glimmer looked over to the party and waved, “Everything’s ok, I think? He shouldn’t bother you anymore!”  
Entrapta dropped her autocrossbow and approached her, “It can’t be. Is? Is that really you, Glimmer?”   
Glimmer approached the Queen and realized who this woman was, “Entrapta? You’re, out of your lab?”   
She shook her head and closed her eyes. Her hair pulled her closerto Glimmer and she hugged her sister in embrace, “A lot has happened, Glimmer. To me, to Figaro, and to the world.”   
Glimmer closed her eyes and hugged Entrapta back, “Yeah. I could tell. But I’m glad that you’re safe.”   
Bow and Adora watched them hug and they looked at each and realized they both had questions they wanted to ask. Bow approached them and studied their similarities, “Hold on, are you two sisters?”  
Adora looked at them for a good while and while she wouldn’t have guessed it at first, they both ahd the same eye color, and their hair was the same shade of purple. Other than that, they were completely different. Entrapta was shorter and scrawnier while Glimmer was slightly taller and stout with muscle.  
“Entrapta who are these people?” Glimmer asked.  
She looked to Bow and Adora and said, “This here is my sister, Glimmer Rene Figaro!” Entrapta’s younger sister, who traded the throne for her own freedom, “And this is Adora and Bow. We’ve been through a lot, Glimmer. And we’re heading to the Sabre Mountains.”   
Glimmer looked up at the peaks and scratched her chin, “No doubt looking for the Returner’s Hideout?” she turned to Entrapta, “I’ve been away for a while and I’ve been watching the world from these mountains. And all this time, I thought the world would finally come to its senses, but. That hasn’t happened. The Empire is running rampant, and who knows when they’ll stop. They didn’t stop with dad. And they didn’t stop with Figaro.”  
Entrapta’s eyes fell, “So you saw what happened home?”   
Glimmer nodded, “I may have left home, but I always stayed close. To keep an eye on you. And, I could see the smoke rising from up here,” Glimmer nearly charged down the mountain when she saw her home in flames, only stopping when the castle sunk into the sands, and she saw the dust trail of three chocobos fleeing south, “I think, I’ve watched the world from here long enough.”   
Entrapta smiled, “I was thinking the same thing! The act of playing lapdog to the empire is over!”   
“I want in!” Glimmer exclaimed, “Master Duncan would rest easier knowing his training helped bring peace!”   
Entrapta looked down at her sister. After a decade, the little girl who left home with nothing but a chocobo turned into a warrior, all without Entrapta knowing, “I would be glad to have you with us.”   
Glimmer grinned back at her, “Well! Let’s get going! The Reterner Base is through these caves!” Glimmer beckoned them to follow, and Entrapta followed first. Bow and Aora stayed behind for a brief meeting.   
“So, I did not expect to meet my friend’s long lost sister, how about you?” Bow asked.   
“I have amnesia. For all I know, this could be an everyday thing,” Adora said.   
Bow thought about that for the rest of their journey down the mountain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the wait, lol.


	5. Chapter 5

It was nightfall when they reached the Returner’s Base. Entrapta had decided to lead the party through Mt. Kolts and through the Saber Mountain Range in one day. The journey down the mountain was difficult enough, especially after their battle with Vargas. Thankfully, Adora had some spare potions to take care of their wounds, though when no one was looking, she pressed her hand to a bruise on her thigh. Her hand glowed, and a moment later the bruise was gone. Adora stared at her hand, before she followed the group down the mountain.   
Bow had insisted that they camp out one last time before they reach the base, but Entrapta argued that getting there sooner rather than later would be better, “Besides! The beds will feel a lot better if we’re extra tired! It’s a psychology thing I studied back home!”   
Bow shook his head, for he knew how hard the mats were at the Hideout. Glimmer shrugged and followed on. She hadn’t spoken to Bow or Adora yet, and mostly got caught up with Entrapta, asking how Castle Figaro was.  
“So how is the castle? I saw it was on fire but then, it wasn’t there!”   
Entrapta laughed, “Oh that! Yes, the Clown set it on fire but we got one over on him! Little did he know, Figaro can bury itself under the sand!”   
“Wait, it can?!”  
“Oh yes! It took a few years, but I basically converted the castle into a burrowing fortress!” she cheered.  
Glimmer laughed, “You know, while I was training under Master Duncan I was wondering if you were up to anything. And, I guess that answers my question!” they laughed.   
After a whole day of travel, they reached the Returner’s Hideout. The four found a clearing in the mountains where a large cave entrance beckoned them inside. Adora and Glimmer followed Bow and Entrapta inside. Not far into the cave, they ran into a guard. He tightened his grip on his spear when they first appeared but he soon recognized Entrapta’s purple pigtails.   
“Ah, Queen Entrapta! This way!” the guard beckoned them to follow.   
Adora walked near the back and looked around. She wasn’t sure if this hideout was a natural cave or if it was dugout, but there were dozens of men and women gathered there. Some were sitting in groups passing a drink around, while others sharpened their weapons, and others were at work. Many gave her a look, and Adora realized that they knew who she was. She tried to ignore them, and focused on her own feet, putting one in front of the other.   
The guard guided them to a staircase up to a doorway. He stomped his spear and said, “Master Castaspella is waiting for you up these steps.”   
Entrapta nodded and walked toward the doorway, the rest of the party following. Bow thought to ask, “Should you have a word with her alone, or?”  
The Queen shook her head, “I think she’ll want to meet with all of us for this.”   
Bow nodded and gave one look to Adora before they followed her inside to a modest study. Sitting at a chair by a fire, reading an old codex was a middle-aged woman with long-raven hair, “Ah. Queen Entrapta, I was expecting you on the morrow.”  
Bow glared at Entrapta, “Yeah, so was I.”   
Entrapta pushed the thief away with one of her pigtails, “I came here as soon as the Empire attacked Figaro.”   
“Yes, I heard about that. I wish your cover hadn’t been blown so quickly, but what’s done is done,” her eyes cast down on Adora, “So. You are the one the Esper responded to.”   
Glimmer raised an eyebrow, wondering what this woman was speaking about. She looked to Adora, and saw she was just as confused as her, “Esper?”  
Entrapta studied Adora’s head, “According to Bow, the Empire had a Slave Crown on her. Complete control over her. I thought of such a device once, but it was too dangerous to have around, so I scrapped the project. I didn’t think that the Empire could have developed a similar device.”   
Adora stepped away from Entrapta while Castaspella turned to the walls. Even here in the room closest to a normal study, the walls were the cave’s rocky interior, “Carrier pigeons have kept me informed over these past few nights. Much has happened,” the woman stared Adora down, “I heard from one of these messages, that this woman burned down fifty imperial soldiers in mere minutes!”   
Glimmer’s eyes opened wide, “She what?!”  
She heard this woman’s words. Adora couldn’t hear anything like a lie from them, but as hard as Adora could try, she could not recall anything like slaughtering men, “No, that’s not.”   
As she was pulling back, Bow came to her and felt her hands, calmly speaking her name, “Adora.”   
“Castaspella,” Entrapta spoke up, “I should inform you that Adora has no memories. The removal of the slave crown seems to have caused amnesia. Even after a few days, Adora hasn’t recovered.”  
Castaspella turned to the Queen and said, “Hiding from the truth won’t change anything,” she came forward to Adora, “Perhaps you’ve heard this story before. Back when people were still innocent. They were told not to open a box. But being humans, they opened it, and the evils of the world spilled out. Pride, envy, wrath, greed, gluttony,” Castaspella looked down at Adora right in the eye, “The only thing that remained was a single ray of light. Hope,” Adora looked up at this woman, but said nothing. Castaspella stepped back, never taking her eyes off of Adora, “Your power is a gift, not a curse. You must never forget that. You,” she closed her eyes, and looked down at her hands. They were shaking, “You are this world’s last ray of light. Our, final hope.”   
“Master Castaspella! You’re making Adora nervous!” Bow cried.   
Castaspella looked at Adora and sighed, “Forgive me, I grow weary at this hour. Allow me to rest for a while,” she wandered out of her study, “Someone will show you to your rooms.”

* * *

**Elsewhere, thousands of miles away, at the Empire’s Capital**

Imperial soldiers stepped out of his way, as Kefka Palazzo stomped his way through the halls to the Throne Room. He had a scowl on his face, “Damn that Entrapta. We should have known that she was playing us for fools!” he clawed the air, “I should have hunted her down like a dog!”   
Most would choose to run from a snarling Kefka, but not her. She would choose to taunt the Emperor’s Jester, “Wow. Would you look at this. If it isn’t Kefka Palazzo throwing a hissy fit,” she laughed.   
He threw a wild fist at her and she quickly dodged and backed away, “I’m not in the mood for your games, General,” he spoke as cool as he could.  
The General laughed, “Please. You call this a game? This is just a warm-up. Word on the street is, your mess at Figaro’s got Gestahl more ticked off than ever,” she brushed Kefka’s arm, “If I were you, I would consider fleeing the Empire. You know, just in case the Emperor starts calling for your head!”   
Kefka sneered and pushed her aside, “Please. I am aware of how valued I am to the Emperor. And I know, how little he values you. Need I remind you of Maranda?”   
She frowned, “I conquered that town.”  
“Uwee hah hah hah! Yes! But the Emperor did not appreciate its cost,” he winked at her, “Oh but, how could I forget, you conscripted all the men to us, so I suppose it’s all evened out!”   
He leaped ahead and continued toward the throne room, leaving the general alone with her thoughts. Not for long, “Hey there, kitty cat! How’s it going?”   
“Scorpia. How many times have I told you not to call me Kitty Cat!?”   
The woman rubbed the back of her head, “Well, I mean we’re both Generals, we can’t really call ourselves General Scorpia or General Cere, can we?”   
“Yes we can,”   
“Oh,”  
“What are you doing here, Scorpia? I thought you were supposed to be at Doma?”   
“I was, but Emperor Gestahl called me back. I think it might have to do with Kefka, not gonna lie,” Scorpia explained.   
The two did not exchange any words, until they reached Emperor Gestahl’s throne room. The Generals kneeled with Kefka as the old man appraised his greatest warriors, “General Scorpia. I hope the battle at Doma is fortuitous?”   
“Yes, your majesty. I hope that by the end of the season, we will have Doma under control,” the great warrior said.  
“Hm. Perhaps you could use some help. Kefka? Would you be kind to assist General Scorpia?”   
Kefka protested, “With all due respect, my Emperor. I believe that my efforts should go to retrieving Adora Branford.”   
General Celes shot him a look, and listened to the Emperor, “Adora was a useful tool. However, she was expendable. Even more so now that we know an Esper exists in this realm,” he spoke to himself on the matter mostly, but now he spoke directly to Kefka, “Your efforts to retrieve Adora were a failure. I do not want any more resources wasted on a traitor. You will accompany General Scorpia, and you will serve my campaign to conquer Doma. Is that clear?”  
Kefka bowed, scowling at the floor, “Yes, my lord.”   
Emperor Gestahl’s eyes fell on her, “General Cere. You will lead your forces to South Figaro, you will occupy the city, lead an attack on the Returner’s Base, and you will prepare for an invasion of Narshe. Understood, General Catra Cere?”   
A magitek knight forged by the empire and tempered in battle. None have ever truly known the woman beneath the general’s guise, “Understood, my lord.”

* * *

Adora didn’t remember going to sleep. She looked around and saw the rocky walls, and the straw bed she lied in. Sitting nearby was Bow. His bandanas were at his side, and his hair was loose. He stirred and looked over to Adora.   
“Hey. You slept good?” he stretched his arms, “Entrapta asked me to keep watch over you. But I dozed off.”   
Adora looked down at her blanket, “Keep watch over me? Are you all afraid I’ll?” she stopped, “Bow. You’re a part of the Returners. Why did you join them?”   
Bow squeezed his bandanas, and wrapped them around his head, “The Empire stole someone very important to me. If no one stands up to the Empire, then there’ll be more people left like me,” Bow looked to Adora, “That’s why I joined.”  
Adora stood up from her bed and faced the wall, “But there’s no one in my life that’s important to me. I don’t have friends, I don’t have a family. I. I’m alone, Bow.”  
Bow tried putting on a smile, “That’s not true. There, has to be someone you’re important to. No one’s born in this world alone.”   
Adora shook her head, “I need to get some air,” she left Bow alone and walked through the Returner Base. She passed by many soldiers, and she noticed not as many glared at her as yesterday. Now, some would approach asking her to join them.   
Adora found herself in the mess hall, where Glimmer sat alone eating a bowl of soup, “Oh hey! You’re Adora, right?”   
“Yeah. We never got introduced, huh?” Adora awkwardly smiled, “I’m Adora Branford.”   
“Glimmer Rene Figaro! So, I’ve been hearing from my sister and that Castaspella that they would really want you to join them,” Adora was silent, “I don’t what to tell you. I just know that, I trust my sister completely. She’s always thought of my needs before her own. Ever since we were little. She might be weird,” Adora hesitated on agreeing with that last point, “But, you should trust her too.”  
Adora nodded her head, “Ok. I’ll think about that.”  
Just as Adora was about to walk away, Glimmer grabbed her had, “Just please! Don’t tell her I said that, or she will turn redder than a tomato, ok?!”   
Adora snorted and laughed, “Ok, Glimmer, I got it,” she laughed and left the mess hall. She walked up the steps to the study. She expected to see Castaspella, but only Entrapta was there, repairing one of her tools, “Entrapta. Can I talk to you for a second?”  
The Queen turned to Adora and lifted her mask, “Of course! What do you got on your mind?” she turned back to her tools.   
“I was just wondering. You and Castaspella. You both want to use me for the Returners, right?”   
Entrapta stopped, “That’s, a way to say it, yeah,” she put her tools away, as her hair lifted her off the ground, “We want your help more than anything. You could be the edge we need to defeat the Empire! But. It has to be your choice. Me and Castaspella were talking about this,” she looked down at her invention, “If we forced you to fight for us, you would just be a weapon to us. And, we would be no better than the Empire,” Entrapta stretched her arm to Adora’s shoulder, “I can’t decide what you should do, Adora. Only you can.”   
Adora watched Entrapta’s gaze and nodded, “Thank you, your majesty.”   
She shook her head, “Entrapta will do.”   
Adora left Entrapta alone and wandered the base, asking around for Castaspella. She heard from a Returner that their leader was outside. She came out the cave entrance, and found the woman sitting alone, looking up at the night sky.   
“Is something wrong?” Castaspella asked. She noticed Adora without looking.  
“I wanted to talk to you. About what you said. About, being the Last Ray of Light,” Castaspella pulled her gaze from the stars, to Adora, “I’m scared. And I don’t even know if this is the right thing to do.”  
Castaspella’s hand caressed Adora’s, “Never lose hope, Adora. It’s what kept me going.”

* * *

Early in the morning, Castaspella called a meeting. Sitting near the head of the table was Entrapta, and beside her was Glimmer. Bow sat near the end of the table, while Adora sat across from Glimmer. The rest of the chairs were filled by Returner officers. Down from her study, Castaspella came down to the table. Before she began she saw a crumpled up piece of paper.  
“Really, guys? Do you not know what a waste basket is?” and she threw the paper in the trash can behind her. Adora was sweating, because she saw that piece of paper earlier and chose not to throw it away, “Well, anyway. We all know that the Gestahlian Empire is using its Magitek powers to wage war. The question is, where did they get this power?”  
Entrapta stood and said, “I’ve had Bow poke around the Empire for answers, and I’ve done my own investigating.”  
Bow cleared his throat, “The Empire’s gathered scholars from all over, to study Espers. That’s why they invaded Narshe. For the frozen Esper.”   
Adora raised an eyebrow as Castaspella paced back and forth, “Are you saying there’s a connection between Magitek and Espers?”   
Castaspella spoke, “Espers and Magitek. Only one possible link comes to mind.”   
Entrapta’s eyes widened, “You don’t mean?”  
Castaspella nodded, “The War of the Magi.”  
“But, that’s impossible!” one of the Returners cried out. Adora didn’t know what this War of the Magi was, but even she felt a chill from its mere mention.  
“My grandmother used to tell me stories about that. About magical machines. Are you saying they’re true?” Bow asked a chilling question.  
Entrapta asked a chillier one, “Are you saying we’re on the verge of a second War of the Magi?”  
Castaspella took a deep breath and muttered, “It’s only a guess,” she crossed her arms and said, “It was a thousand years ago. Nearly every scholar has their own theory on it. One says that machines drained the Espers of their very life to power machines, and that ordinary humans were infused with that power.”  
Adora looked down at the table, “So that’s what Magitek power is.”   
Entrapta spoke up, “If we’re going to fight Magitek enemies, won’t we need Magitek weapons of our own?”  
Castaspella shot that down, “No! That would cause another War of the Magi!”  
Entrapta crossed her arms, “Then, what do you propose?”   
“I was wondering if we could have a chat with an esper,” she looked over to Adora, “The Esper in the Mine reacted to Adora before. After a thousand years of silence, we could finally wake it up.”   
Bow protested, “Do you really think that would work?”   
“No one can be sure. But, we can’t do anything without Adora’s help,”   
Bow looked over to Adora, who had been looking down at the table listening, feeling the eyes on her. She looked up and declared, “I’ll do it.”   
A sense of relief washed over the Returners. Castaspella took a deep breath and relaxed, while Glimmer laughed, “I’m not sure what this plan is you’re all talking about, but hey! It sounds like it could be a lot of fun!”  
The Returners celebrated, finally having a plan that could give them the edge they needed to defeat the Empire. Even Adora felt happy, for a bit. She was still unsure about everything but she was glad to help. Bow still wasn’t convinced.   
“Castaspella! Where are you?” a groan ceased all celebrations. Everyone followed Castaspella out of the meeting room to the entrance of the hideout, where a Returner lay on the ground, “Master Castaspella. South Figaro. The Empire. They’ve moved in and, they’re on their way here right now!”   
Castaspella took a deep breath, “Then we don’t have a moment to lose. Bow?”   
The treasure hunter stepped forward, “I know what you’re thinking. Someone’s gotta slow down the Empire right?” he walked through the Returners, “Adora, Entrapta, Glimmer. I won’t be gone long,” he took one last look at Adora, “Be safe, Adora.”   
Bow left the Returners Hideout for South Figaro.   
Castaspella watched him leave before asking Entrapta, “What shall we do?”   
Entrapta lifted herself up as she thought of a plan, “Hm. The Lethe River. Could we float down the water and make it back to Narshe that way?”   
Castaspella nodded, “Yes. We’ve been building ships in case we needed to escape by the river,” she looked to the rest of the Returners remaining, “Men! It’s time we leave! Ready the fleet! We’re sailing down the Lethe River!”

* * *

Adora, Entrapta, Glimmer, and Castaspella were on the first boat down the river while the rest of the Returners prepared the fleet for themselves. At first Castaspella was apprehensive about leaving all of her men behind, but Entrapta reasoned that they should leave sooner so they could get to Narshe and set up a base there before the army came.   
They rode down the river, and Adora expected the trip to be smooth sailing at the very least, but Glimmer was familiar with this river, and she kept an eye on the water, “I’ve heard stories about this river.”   
Adora gave her a look, “Uh, what were those stories?”   
Glimmer rested her head on her knuckle, “Master Duncan used to say, there was this weirdo who hung out here. But, he never said anything else about him.”  
Entrapta and Adora exchanged looks, “We’ll keep a lookout for him, then,” Adora said.   
Castaspella only looked ahead, as the current washed their boat further along. A few times they had to guide the boat in the correct direction otherwise they found themselves stuck in an endless loop. Sometimes they had to fight off some aggressive fish that kept hitting their hull. Adora wondered if they should try catching the fish, but neither Glimmer nor Entrapta seemed keen on the idea. There were two times that they got out of the boat to rest at a dock in a cave for a few minutes, but they would leave soon afterwards.   
It was when they passed by a waterfall did things get weird, “What the hell is that?” Glimmer asked, squinting at the top of a waterfall.  
“What, is that thing?” Adora asked.   
Castaspella looked up too, “Well whatever it is, it’s coming down the waterfall.”   
This thing splashed into the river and followed their boat. Adora thought that this thing was gonna swim past them, but as soon as it looked at their boat, it smiled at them, “Gwee hee hee! What have we got here?!” Adora was surprised that this thing could talk, and was more surprised when their boat lurched and stopped. From the bow, the thing emerged from the water, a horrifying octopus with sharp teeth, and a wicked smile. Its tentacles emerged from the water, holding the boat in place, “You’re up the creek without a paddle! And I’m not gonna let you through!” it laughed as its tentacles slithered up from the water onto the boat, “Does that make me a bad octopus?”  
Adora noticed a tentacle approaching her. She raised her hand and shot a plume of fire at the octopus, “Get back, you dumb squid!”   
“Ahhh! Hey now!” he pulled his tentacle underwater, “Seafood soup is off the menu!”   
Glimmer’s arms fell slack, for she was dumbfounded by this weird as hell octopus, “What the hell are you anyway?”  
“I’m Ultros! The Octopus! And you! I hate bodybuilders!” a tentacle sprang from the water above Glimmer. She saw it about to come down on their boat. She closed her eyes, and concentrated her aura. Suddenly, she disappeared, “Huh? Where did she go?!”   
Glimmer appeared in front of Ultros’s face, “Aura Cannon!” from Glimmer’s palms that she joined together, a burst of blue light came forth and hit Ultros in the face. Glimmer disappeared and reappeared back on the boat, her bolt of light exploding on their tentacled opponent.  
“Ugh! You all are really tough! But not tough enough! Face my tentacles!” Ultros raised four of his tentacles to attack the boat, and likely would have sunk the boat if Entrapta hadn’t fired a barrage of arrows at him, “Youch! I’m getting really annoyed with you!” he pulled his tentacles back and scraped the arrows off his body, “I saw a boat carrying four beautiful ladies, and I wanted to say hello. And they attacked me! How can women be so cruel?!”  
Glimmer face palmed, “You, attacked, us. That’s why we’re fighting!”   
Castaspella asked, “Are you actually trying to gaslight us, squid?”  
Ultros started laughing, “Of course not!? I would never try to harm any of you! I just want to get close to a pretty girl like, well any of you!”   
Adora frowned and stood on the bow, “I’m sick of you, you stupid octopus! Go away!” she struck Ultros with a fire spell, this time consuming his head.   
“YEOUCH! What did I say?! Seafood soup is off the menu!” Ultros screamed. He fell below the surface.   
They looked at the water, looking for any sign of him, “Is that despicable creature gone?” Castaspella asked.  
“Looks like it,” Entrapta said, “What was that even about?”  
“I don’t know. I hope we never see him again,” Adora said, and she swore she could hear three men laughing off in the distance.  
Glimmer popped her knuckles, “Lemme go after him, and I’ll make sure he never comes back for us!”   
“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Glimmer,” Adora protested.  
“Don’t worry about it! I’ll be back with calamari for dinner!” she declared, and then she dove into the river.   
Entrapta scanned the water, looking for her sister, “Why is this water so dark? I can’t see where she went!”   
“Oh don’t worry,” Castaspella tried to calm her down, “Any minute and Glimmer will jump out of the water and flop on the boat.”  
It wasn’t a minute, as it was a second later did Glimmer emerge from the water. Whatever happened, Glimmer had been thrown out by Ultros as he fled. She could have made it back to the boat, but she landed in a current that pulled her down a split in the river, one that wasn’t going to lead them to Narshe.  
“Glimmer!” Entrapta called.  
“Don’t worry about me, Entrapta! I’ll find my way back to Narshe! Just get Adora there safe!” Glimmer shouted.   
Entrapta kept her eyes on Glimmer, until she was long out of sight. The River took Glimmer east, and it took Adora, Entrapta, and Castaspella west, “Be safe, Glimmer. I will see you again.”   
Adora put a hand on Entrapta’s shoulder, “Are you ok, Entrapta?”  
“Yeah,” she said, “Let’s get to Narshe.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter took forever. Ultros was a cowriter. btw, the three men laughing were me, Hiroyuki Ito, and Yoshinori Kitase. next chapter should be pretty short.


End file.
